I'd Rather be in Philidelphia
by RoryJessfan7
Summary: What if Rory never called Logan when her grandfather was in the hospital? What if something Richard said made Rory think of a certin someone we all know and love? Oneshot and Lit!


Disclaimer: Only the thoughts and ideas on this page are mine, I own nothing else even though I wish I owned it all.

-- --

Her grandfather had been admitted to the hospital just a few hours ago after he had fallen down right in the middle of teaching a class.

_He could have been Asher_, she thought. The same thing happened to him and the two wise men were around the same age when the heart attacks occurred. Just like Richard; Asher was teaching a class, he was doing Puck, and then suddenly, he wasn't, that could have been her grandfather. She was so scared she might loose him.

Her mother was sitting next to her, silent and jittery much like herself. She didn't know how much longer she could take this; the waiting for some sign that it was going to be alright.

Her mother nudged her arm and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "I'm going to get some coffee, you need anything?" She shook her head and she felt her mother touch her arm in a comforting way before getting up to leave.

Her grandmother could be heard fighting with the nurses on the other side of the lobby and she didn't know what to do, about anything.

A few minutes later her mother came back with two cups of coffee, setting the second one down in front of her. Rory made no effort to drink it as she sat there gazing at a cream colored wall in front of her.

She heard a voice talking to them and was pulled back into this world and out of her thoughts. Looking up at the fifty –something year old man wearing a blue scrub shirt with equally dorky blue pants she forced herself to comprehend what he was saying.

"He suffered a minor heart attack as you know and the tests we had run showed that we need to do an emergency bypass surgery but he's awake now and this would be the time to visit with him if you would like." He told the three Gilmores.

"Yes we would like to see him", her grandmother said very quickly as Rory and her mother got up to follow Emily robotically, who was interrogated the doctor as he showed them to Richard's room.

As they walked she let her mind wander again.

She hadn't called Logan yet and she didn't know if she should, even though he was her boyfriend… something seemed to be missing. Like there was a whole in her heart left behind by someone a while ago, and she has yet to fill that void. The men she's been with sense that void was put there seemed to be there more for company, nothing else really.

Glancing around her, Rory registered that her father wasn't there with them. It seemed like somewhere a husband would be, when his wife's father is in the hospital. She recalls over hearing her mother trying to get a hold of him but he didn't answer.

Sighing she walks into the room that where grandmother just entered.

That was another thing she wasn't sure of; her mother's marriage to her father. It seemed to be going down hill after only two months and she didn't like the way her father was changing her mother. Luke wouldn't do that.

She shakes her head trying to clear it of all these mixed and jumbled thoughts. Scolding herself, she has to stop doing that. Christopher and Luke were two completely different people and Lorelai married Chris, Luke was in the past and comparing the two wasn't fair.

Christopher was her father, and she loved him. But then again Luke was like her father too, in a way. He watched out for her all those years when her real dad wasn't there and he was more of a father figure to her. Even though she only ever admitted it to one person in her life before; when she thought of her father Luke always came to her mind first, then Christopher would pop into her head and she would feel guilty, like she was cheating on her dad.

"Hey Grandpa." She greeted him from his bedside as she attempted to push all the thoughts out of her head.

"I met your doctor and I'm quite confident in him, and I watched his hands closely and there steady as a statue's." Emily informed her husband, "Oh and Richard he's Yale under grad." At this Richard perked up and lifted his head from the pillow.

"Harvard Medical School", she told him.

"You don't say?" he said a little surprised about this news. "If he does a good job I'll forget the Harvard part, write that off as a youthful indiscretion." He tells them all jokingly.

She glances over at her mother and can tell she is uncomfortable by the look on her face; she never liked it when her father was in the hospital, it seemed to rub her the wrong way, she seemed to turn into a puddle instead of the super strong-not-afraid-of-anything Lorelai she knew growing up.

"This room is rather intimate", Emily says as she shrugs off her coat.

"It's just fine Emily, I promise you." Her grandfather tells the eldest Gilmore Girl, the same way he would have said it if he were at home sitting at the table reading his paper, like he didn't just have a heart attack. He turns to Rory and apologizes to her, "Now, Rory, I'm sorry I gave you a scare in class today."

"No, don't be silly, I'm just glad you're okay and that you're going to be more okay after the surgery." She tells him, that's just like Richard Gilmore, to apologize to his favorite granddaughter while he was lying in a hospital bed and did nothing wrong.

"Thank you" he says with a small nod of his head and turns to where Lorelai is speaking to him.

"Are you okay dad, I mean how are you feeling considering everything, you okay you look okay?" _That's good mom, mention it three times,_ Rory thought to herself.

"Well… all and all I think I'd rather be in Philadelphia." Richard said, quoting Ronald Ragen, but Rory didn't say anything about that; her mind was suddenly thrown somewhere else.

She blocked out everything as the wheels turned inside her head and she thought back almost a year, to the last time she saw him… in Philadelphia.

He looked so good with his new hair, still with its rebellious style but more mature, not sticking up in a million different directions, it suited him. His wardrobe hadn't changed much; he had been wearing an old T-shirt with a blazer thrown over it and dark blue jeans with some form of dress shoes. He also had a bit of stubble on him that day and there was something about it that gave him a sexy air of mystery that drew her to him like moths to a flame.

And she suddenly knew why she hadn't called Logan, and she knew exactly where she wanted to be, in Philadelphia. With him.

"Uh grandpa I'm going to get a cup of coffee, do you need anything?" she asked him using it as an excuse to leave the room.

"No Rory I'm fine, thank you asking." Richard told her calmly and her mother eyed her oddly, she knew something was up, it was a Lorelai thing, but she didn't follow or pester Rory about it, she had her own things to deal with. Mainly, her husband who had neglected to answer his phone or turn it back on, he should be here it's his obligation.

As Rory walked down the hall her hand was reaching into her purse, and fishing out her phone. Opening up to her contacts Rory stopped walking and leaned against a wall for support, this was all too much.

Scrolling down to the J's she stopped at the number that she literally had to beg Luke for, she felt so low that day but she didn't care, something inside told her that this phone number would come in handy one day.

And she was right.

Without thinking twice she pressed the green send button and put the phone up to her ear. The ringing started, making her heart jump in her chest and her palms sweat. Running a nervous hand through her hair and freezing when the ringing stopped.

"Hello?" came a voice from the other side of the phone that she knew so well, even after all these years; she would be able to identify his voice in a crowd of millions.

"Jess." She breathed, left hand clutching the phone while the right one gripped the wall for support.

"Rory" In Truncheon Jess stopped where he stood next to his desk and froze. He hadn't expected it to be her, the unknown caller I.D. made him think it was Liz telling him a new number, or Luke, or even some girl that he didn't even remember from a coffee shop. But not Rory, not in a million years would he have guessed the famous Rory Gilmore would have even taken the time out of her busy schedule to even think of him.

"Yeah, it's me." She said unsurely, not sure if he would even do what she was about to ask him. Knowing there history this conversation would end in a fight; it's what happened every time they encounter each other.

"Hey. What's going on in Connecticut?" he asked her, trying to take things slowly, their relationship was fragile.

"I'm at the hospital." She told him sadly, worrying for her grandpa.

His heart stopped. She was at the hospital; was she okay, what about Luke, and Lorelai?

"Jess?" she asked after a moment of silence, making sure he was still there.

"Are you okay?" he asked franticly, worry evident in his voice.

"I'm not sure really", she said with a dry laugh, "My grandfather had a heart attack right in the middle of a class he was teaching and I happened to be in that class and…Jess it was awful, he just fell down." She told him as she let go of the wall and slid down to the floor and bringing her knees up to her chest.

"I'm sorry Ror, is there anything I can do?" he asked his voice sad but a little lighter now that he knew it wasn't her in that situation.

"Actually… there is." She told him, wrapping her free arm around her legs. _He isn't_ _going to do it, he has a life of his own_, she told herself sadly.

"What? What can I do to help?" he asked eagerly as he shoved Matt's nosy ear away from the phone and shooting him a glare. Matt just shrugged his shoulders and walked over to where Chris was standing and continued to eavesdrop, but at a safer distance.

"Can you come over here?" she asked shyly.

"What?" he asked surprised by her request, Matt and Chris straightened up at the tone of Jess's voice and strained to here what Rory was saying.

"Can you come over; I mean if you're doing something important you don't have to it's just-" she stopped when he cut her off.

"I'll be there. Which hospital are you at?" he asked, already shutting down his computer and grabbing is trusty leather jacket off the rack while struggling to put his shoes on.

"Uh…New Haven, it's the biggest one… I'm sorry I can't think right now." She told him a little dumb founded that he was actually coming. She felt guilty now, he probably had much better things to do with his time and he was traveling all the way from Philadelphia just because she asked.

"Okay, it might take me a few hours but I'll be there as soon as I can." He said as he finished tying his shoes and stood up letting out a long breath.

"Are you sure Jess? I mean I don't want to put you out." She asked she was starting to feel like this was a bad idea; they weren't exactly on the best of terms when she left last time.

"Its fine Ror, you could never be putting me out, I'm leaving right now." He told her softly, she needed him and he'd be damned if he didn't go to her aid.

"Okay see you soon." She told him as she stood up from the floor.

"Okay bye Rory." he said back.

"Bye." She told him and went to end their call.

"Wait, Rory." he said quickly, trying to stop her from hanging up.

"Yeah?" she said into to her phone.

"I'm glad you called." He told her, smiling into to the phone.

"Yeah, me too." She smiled and hung up the phone before walking back to where grandmother and mother were.

-- --

He flipped his phone closed and turned to where Matt and Chris were standing, trying not to draw attention to themselves as they eavesdropped.

"I'm going to New Haven for a few days do you think you two can hold down the fort for that long?" he asked them and they nodded, not really sure if it was their place to butt in, Rory was always a sore spot with Jess and they knew it.

Rolling his eyes Jess turned to go up stairs to grab the few things he would need for his trip, Matt and Chris trailing along closely after him.

"She's got you whipped and you're not even dating her." Chris said to Jess, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against Jess's door frame.

"Stop it." Jess warned him glancing up for a second from his green duffle bag that he was throwing things into.

"He's right you know." Matt said backing up his friend, "You've never gotten over her and you know it Jess."

"I don't stick my nose into your personal lives, butt out of mine." Jess brush past them, trudging down the stairs with his bag thrown over his shoulder.

"But Jess, don't you think-" Jess cut Matt off not wanting to hear what he had to say. Matt might suck at his own relationships but when it came to other's relationships, he was the closest thing to a psychiatrist that you're going to get.

"I'm leaving; don't burn down the place like last time." Jess told them over his shoulder, walking out the door and closing it behind him.

"That was all Chris's fault!" Matt yelled at the after Jess, earning him a smack upside the head from Chris.

-- --

Rory was sitting in the waiting room again with her mother watching her grandmother make call after call about fish, which she was sure is the answer to what ever ales you after reading an article about it. Rory's leg jiggled nervously; for her grandfather and in anticipation of Jess's arrival. Her mother had to put her hand on it to stop the jiggling about four times already; she was having a hard enough time concentrating as it was.

Christopher had yet to make an appearance, but Luke had. Jess had called him to tell him he was coming for Rory. When Luke asked why, Jess had told him about Richard and Luke showed up at the hospital about thirty minutes later, bearing food for Lorelai.

When Luke told Lorelai about Jess knowing she eyed her daughter suspiciously but brushed it aside as another conversation for another day.

Over two hours had passed sense she spoke to Jess, he would be arriving in a few minutes and she couldn't sit still.

Her phone starting ringing and she used it as and excuse for getting up and moving around.

She didn't bother to look who was calling she knew who it would be.

"Jess." Rory said into the phone and breathed out a sign of relief, she had been worried about him.

"Logan." The person on the other side of the phone said. Rory's breath hitched in her throat and her ocean blue eyes widened.

"Hey Ace, what's going on?" he asked in an accusing tone.

She didn't answer she didn't know if she could.

"Rory?" Logan's tone rising, she could tell he was starting to get angry with her, she could just picture his face getting stone cold and his eyes darkening, and the small vain on his neck popping out like it did every time he got made at her.

"I have to go." Was all she could say before she pressed the red end button on her phone, ending the call, and possibly their relationship.

Rory wasn't given too much to dwell on what just happened before she heard a voice coming from down the hall.

-- --

"Rory!" Jess shouted upon seeing her.

When he had arrived at the hospital he hadn't been one hundred percent sure on where to go, he tried calling but she didn't pick up her phone so he asked someone at the front desk where heart attack patients were normally taken. Once he got the information he needed and he arrived on the correct floor he noticed a red stripe under his feet, or was it orange, maybe red-ish orange, he couldn't really tell.

Anyway, not knowing where exactly Rory would be he decided to follow the stripe until he found her, it didn't really take long.

She looked a little distance, pale and tired, but besides that fact she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Jess." She said in a low voice. He wasn't sure of what to make of her tone but he only go a few moments to ponder it before she was running down the hall to meet him.

On instinct he opened his arms to her right before she plowed into his chest. She rapped her arms around him and pulled him as close as she possibly could, never wanting to let go.

He set his chin on top her head and pulled her, if it was even possible, closer to him. He had missed the feeling of her in his arms so much. Acting on impulse he tilted his head down and kissed the top her soft brown hair.

A muffled "Thank you", came from his chest, he just shook his head and told her, "You don't have to thank me."

After a few moments of silence she said something that had been eating away at her for a while now.

"I'm sorry." She told him, to afraid to lift her head from his chest, not wanting to lose contact.

"For what?" he asked confused. Shouldn't he be the one saying sorry, it was her grandfather in the hospital not his.

"Everything I put you through, I'm sorry I ran off that day at Truncheon." She was beginning to hate her self more and more everyday for doing it, she felt tears stream down her face, she didn't stop them and soon she began to sob into his chest, the weight of the day taking a toll on her.

"It's okay Ror, it's going to be okay." He rubbed small circles onto her back while she cried and he shushed her lovingly.

When she was finished crying and the only thing coming out of her was sniffles, she lifted her head to look at him.

Her red puffy eyes met his; he removed his hands from her back and waist to set the on either side of her face and used his thumbs to wipe away a few stray tears that had leaked out.

"When was the last time you slept?" he asked her, caring for her health, never taking his eyes off hers.

"I don't know." She said truthfully, she couldn't think that far back her brain wasn't working that day.

"How about I bring you back to your dorm so you can get a few hours of rest, huh?" he asked her gently, not wanting her to cry again, he hated when she cried.

"But I can't just leave my mom and grandma." She said, sounding like a little girl.

"I'm sure they won't mind if you ask them, in fact I'm pretty sure that they will insist on it." Jess told her while rapping an arm around her shoulders and steering her to where her grandmother and mother were sitting discussing something.

"Jess." Lorelai said, she didn't sound as surprised as she should have been.

"Hello Lorelai, Mrs. Gilmore, I was wondering if I could steal Rory and drive her back to her dorm so she could get a few hours of sleep?" he asked as politely as Jess Mariono could.

"I don't have a problem with that do you mom? Rory you look like you could use some sleep honey." Lorelai told her directing the question towards her mother and regretting it instantly.

"No I don't see what the problem is with that, but why don't you wait for Logan, Rory? I'm sure he could bring you over." Emily said with a fake smile, she never liked the idea of Jess, and she certainly did not like the idea of Jess alone with her granddaughter.

"Logan's not coming." Rory said as she leaned into Jess upon feeling him tense at the mention of Logan's name.

"Why not?" Emily asked disappointed and slightly angry.

"Because I didn't ask him to grandma, I asked Jess to come." She told her grandmother defensively.

"But Logan's your boyfriend Rory, not him." Emily stated pointing to Jess and speaking as if he was a piece of filth.

"Not anymore grandma." She told her angrily, earning a "What?" from both Gilmores and Jess, but she ignored them, not wanting to get into it now.

"Jess can you bring me back to my dorm, I'm really tired." She asked, tuning to him, and blocking out all others

"Uh, sure Rory." he told her, glancing over to an enraged Emily.

"Mom, call me if there's any news with grandpa, okay?" she said, making the statement only for her mother.

"Sure thing hon." Lorelai said as she watched her daughter turn around and walk down the hall with Jess's arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"I don't like that boy at all." Emily told her daughter stubbornly.

Lorelai didn't answer this; letting her thoughts turn to her own diner boy, who was so close, and yet, so far fro m her reach.

-- --

Jess led Rory to his silver car out in the parking lot and opened her door for her, trying to be a gentle man, but all earned him was a smirk. He shut her door and went around to the driver's side of the car and got in.

"So I see you upgraded your choice of car." She told him, with a playful smile.

"Come on, Rory you didn't expect me to keep that old hunk of junk forever did you?" he said smirking while he started the car.

"Maybe." She stated while turning her head to look at him.

Their eyes locked, she got lost in his mocha colored eyes while he was drowning in her ocean blue ones.

Slowly he leaned in, never removing his eyes from hers, she decided to meet him half way and moved closer as well.

There lips touched sparks flew as soon as he felt her soft plush lips come in contact with his. He had forgotten what it felt like, to actually feel some sort of desire when you kissed someone, not the emptiness he usually felt. That emptiness seemed to be gone now, he felt complete, but then again, he always did when it came to her.

He didn't know hoe long they had been kissing but now they slowly pulled apart and he opened his eyes that had closed at some point in the kiss, he couldn't remember when exactly. His eyes met hers again as they breathed in each others air in deep ragged breaths.

"I'm glad you came." She told him.

"Yeah?" he asked as raising his eyebrows and smirking again.

"Yeah." she said just like at the gas station all those years ago but with a few differences in the scenario.

He let go of her face and shifted so he was looking at the road, but his mind still on their kiss from a few moments ago. He put the car in drive he pulled out of his parking space and toward her dorm.

But he wasn't sure if sleeping was what they would be doing, and neither was she.

-- --

So what did you think?

Reviews are greatly appreciated.

And for those who read S.B.U.T. there will be more coming, so don't worry.


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